Monday, January 09, 2023

An Interesting Documentary

      Frontline on PBS has put together a documentary about January 6th and what led to it.  In light of recent events in Brazil, it seems timely to mention it here.

      Many of my readers won't like it -- but it's not made up; it uses real video of real events and interviews with conservative commentators and politicians.

      Lies, Politics and Democracy first aired in September of 2022, without much attention.  It's worth a closer look.

3 comments:

  1. Have not seen that PBS documentary, I will have to see if channel 11 in Chicago will be showing it again. Have you read the Time Magazine special report on saving the 2920 election? It seems to be an open admission of treasonous activity to influence the elections outcome.

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  2. I'm reading it now -- and I have no idea how the activities it relates could be called "treasonous activity to influence the elections outcome." The headline calls it "secret," but most of the reported goings-on are public activities like lobbying Congress to increase funding to state election boards to pay for things like improving mail-in voting and providing PPE for poll workers (2020 being in the thick of the pandemic). Pressuring Twitter and Facebook to take down disinformation? They are private companies, not government entities, and they can publish or not publish whatever they wish. (If you don't like that, Elon Musk has provided an example of how to change it: buy the company and set your own policy.) It's a bunch of concerned citizens trying to ensure an honest election, with good ballot access for legitimate voters and both winners and losers accepting the outcome. What could be more patriotic?

    We had a guy in the White House with a habit of calling any contest he lost "rigged" and "corrupt," from "The Apprentice" losing out to "The Amazing Race" in the Emmys to Ted Cruz beating him in the 2016 Iowa primary, and he was already planting the seeds to do the same thing in 2020. He's a divisive figure; if you like him because he "triggers the libs" (and the old-line small-c conservatives), don't be surprised when those self-same groups push back. Either you accept the give-and-take of our representative democracy, or you want to overthrow it; there is no middle ground.

    Here's an example from the article of activity you are calling "treason":
    "The statement was released on Election Day, under the names of [U. S.] Chamber [of Commerce] CEO Thomas Donohue, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, and the heads of the National Association of Evangelicals and the National African American Clergy Network. 'It is imperative that election officials be given the space and time to count every vote in accordance with applicable laws,' it stated. 'We call on the media, the candidates and the American people to exercise patience with the process and trust in our system, even if it requires more time than usual.' The groups added, 'Although we may not always agree on desired outcomes up and down the ballot, we are united in our call for the American democratic process to proceed without violence, intimidation or any other tactic that makes us weaker as a nation.'"

    If that's what you mean by "treason," you have a very different concept of this country than I do.

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  3. PS: PBS offers the Frontline documentary for both online watching via the link I shared and via streaming to a Roku, Amazon Fire or similar device. No need to wait for a rerun.

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